


If You Would Meet Me Half Way

by anisstaranise



Series: is tú mo réalt eolais [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, First Date, First Kiss, Pre-Relationship, mini golf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-09 15:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4354475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anisstaranise/pseuds/anisstaranise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the past year, Barry has been nothing but supportive- always a friend. But if she’s being honest, they have been walking the fine line between <i>just friends</i> and <i>something more</i> for a while now.</p><p>She kissed Barry once on impulse, something she thought she would never do again after Ronnie.</p><p>And then there’s Barry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Would Meet Me Half Way

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a scene from **In The Flesh**
> 
> For [chasingblue57](http://www.chasingblue57.tumblr.com) who prompted “Teach me how to play” + “Kiss me” from [this](http://anisstaranise.tumblr.com/post/112469478330/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-number-and-ill-write-you) list **ages** ago. Thank you for the prompts and I hope you’ll like this.
> 
> Always and forever grateful to [define_serenity](http://archiveofourown.org/users/define_serenity)
> 
> Title taken from **Colbie Caillat** ’s _[Realize](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlZxZ2n2zpw)_ (which served as a soundtrack while writing this)

The entryway whirs low with the hum of the computerized control system. Caitlin clicks a heel on the floor as she fiddles with the security combination on the touch screen to lock the Pipeline’s vault doors. They had just successfully detained a meta-human that could create shockwaves with a clap of her hands and Caitlin had been tasked to secure the cells.

Just as Caitlin is about to lay her palm on the screen to authorize the security commands, the meta-human calls out to her, halting her movements.

“These abilities don’t really make you special, do they?” the meta-human says, looking down at her hands.

Caitlin doesn’t quite like interacting with the detainees of the Pipeline, especially one that caused so much havoc in the city, injuring innocent bystanders, but there’s something in her voice that prompts her to reply. “I think it’s how you choose to use it that makes you special.”

“Like your friend, The Flash?”

A smile tugs at her lips before she can stop it; her thoughts _were_ of Barry when she came up with the reply.

Barry Allen, the fastest man alive, the man with the kindest heart. Barry Allen, friend and confidant.

“The night of the explosion, my world changed,” the meta-human confesses as she locks her gaze with Caitlin’s, her voice small and sad. “I regret not telling him, that I loved him.”

Caitlin is perplexed by the confession, not knowing the woman’s meaning or intention for such an admission but keeps silent and gives the meta-human the space to continue.

“Fear is a powerful thing, my friend,” she says, a humourless chuckle following suit as Caitlin cringes at being called _friend_ by the likes of her. “It can either push you into doing great things- or it can paralyze you into doing nothing.”

Something in her words strikes a chord in Caitlin.

The meta-human paces the cell, her eyes never leaving Caitlin. “I thought these powers would be the thing that would help me overcome the fear, finally tell him, but alas-” she whispers with a shrug and gestures to the cell around her.

Caitlin turns the words over in her mind for a moment, trying to pinpoint what it is about the sentiment that is familiar to her. “Fear only has power over you if you _give_ it power,” she says when she finally finds her voice.

The meta-human looks amused at her statement before barking a laugh. “So you’re telling me there isn’t anything that’s keeping you from moving forward with something- a job, or a person- there’s nothing that’s holding you back from something that might make you happy because you’re afraid?”

Caitlin is startled by the question; of course everyone has some reservations about something in their lives, she’s no exception.

She opts not to answer the meta-human’s question, but even as the woman disappears behind the closed vault doors, her question remains with Caitlin, sinking further into her skin, her bones.

Her steps towards the Cortex are slow and distracted as her mind sifts through all the things she’s held back from due to fear. But even as she goes through a list of food and drinks she refuses to try because of the questionable ingredients used, or how skydiving will always be out of the question, one thought jumps out ahead of the rest:

_Barry._

For the past year, Barry has been nothing but supportive- always a friend. But if she’s being honest, they have been walking the fine line between _just friends_ and _something more_ for a while now.

She kissed Barry once on impulse after he cheered her up in the aftermath of a disastrous day, something she thought she would never do again after Ronnie. Ronnie’s lips were the only lips she wanted to kiss for the rest of her life- until that fateful night.

And then there’s Barry.

Although the kiss had been short and chaste, the feeling of Barry’s lips on hers was seared into her mind. And she hasn’t been able to forget it since.

If the past year since the Particle Accelerator explosion has taught her anything is that moments can pass you by. That one night, one event changed so many lives- hers included. And those moments that pass you by, you can never get it back.

In that moment, Caitlin finally allows herself to admit it: she has feelings for Barry. Over the time of getting to know the man, the feelings slowly rooted within and if she’s being _really_ honest, it’s been growing stronger in the passing months.

 _Fear is a powerful thing, my friend,_ she replays the words.

She admits that fear is the reason she doesn’t acknowledge her blossoming feelings for Barry in the first place- the void that once housed Ronnie is still healing. And she fears that to concede to such feelings dishonour Ronnie’s memory somehow- what they were, what they had.

But Ronnie’s gone, and as much as it hurts to admit, he’s not coming back.

As she reaches the Cortex, the sounds of Cisco and Barry’s laughter flit from one of the rooms; she guesses they’re where the Cosmic Treadmill is, working on Barry’s speed.

It’s Barry’s laugh- warm and hearty- that pushes her to vow that she will no longer allow fear to have power over her and what she may find with Barry.

\---

The breeze ruffles her curls and the frilly collar of her blouse as Caitlin follows Barry down the felt course, the metal putter cool in her hand.

Two days after her exchange with the meta-human about fear and regret, Caitlin found herself at the CCPD precinct where Barry worked, two bags of take-away food from her favourite Thai restaurant in hand.

“Dr. Snow,” Barry had beamed up at her as she entered his lab, tearing his attention away from his microscope. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Caitlin’s heart had stuttered at the way Barry looked at her, at the way ‘Dr. Snow’ sounded more like an endearment rather than a formality. It wasn’t the first time Barry had elicited the quickening of her heartbeat, but it was the first time she had allowed herself to feel it, revel in it.

“I come bearing gifts,” Caitlin said, displaying the bags in her hand.

Barry had smiled that charming smile of his, pushing himself away from his desk and rolling towards her in his seat as Caitlin set the bags down on the only surface she could find that wasn’t covered with case files and reports.

“It’s a slow day at the lab and I had a craving for _pad thai_ and green curry,” she had explained, taking the containers out one by one. “And since the restaurant is just down the street from the precinct, I thought we could have lunch together.”

“I will never say no to food,” Barry had said, already munching through his first _kratong tong_.

Caitlin had rolled her eyes fondly when Barry effortlessly ploughed through his food.

After lunch was done and Barry had every last bit of crumb or morsel, Caitlin’s nerves had rattled under her skin.

Fear still had its claws in her and she wasn’t naive to think that moving on wouldn’t be difficult- wouldn’t be terrifying. But the words the meta-human had uttered rang loudly in the recesses of her mind and she had held on to her resolve to no longer allow fear to hold any power over her, over her future.

With a deep breath, Caitlin had willed her tongue to shape the words and send them out into the world:

“Barry-” she had drawled rather nervously. “-would you like to have dinner with me- just us?”

Caitlin saw how Barry’s arm had frozen in the middle of gathering the empty containers to throw away in the bin. And for a brief moment, she had frozen, too- fear plaguing her mind with thoughts of rejection and despair.

There was something in the brief kiss they had shared that had ensured her that everything she was feeling, Barry had felt it, too. It was present in the little things he constantly did to make her happy and the stolen touches between them that never failed to send a jolt of electricity through her veins.

But Barry’s response to her proposal- or lack thereof- had sent a wave of doubt that perhaps she had read everything all wrong.

Just then, Barry had turned to face her, that charming smile set on his lips. “Like a date?” he had asked, his tone teasing but Caitlin heard the underlying nervousness beneath it that mirrored her own.

Caitlin had relaxed slightly at the hint of nerves in Barry’s voice- evidence that her assessment had been right; Barry’s feelings and her own were aligned.

“Like a date,” she affirmed with a smile, stomping on the last of her doubts.

With another one of his charming smiles, Barry had simply answered, “Gladly.”

They had dinner at a nice restaurant by the sea that served amazing lobsters- their conversations had flowed effortlessly- talking about what drew them to science, about the movies they found to be rather scientifically accurate despite its Hollywood grandeur, about family and about the past. By the time dessert was served, Caitlin’s cheeks had started to hurt from all the times Barry made her laugh.

They had a wonderful time and not once did fear rear its ugly head that could cause Caitlin to question her decision to sit across from Barry Allen and allow herself to be content, living in the moment.

After dinner, as they walked along the boardwalk by the shoreline towards Caitlin’s car, neither of them had wanted the night to end so Barry had suggested they play a game of minigolf.

The sounds of laughter and cheers drift in the air around them as Barry and Caitlin reached the first hole of the course. She takes in the view of the unfamiliar terrain, noting the various obstacles- like a rotating windmill and a draw bridge that rises and falls- that she suspects are placed at different holes with the intention of increasing the level of difficulty as the game progresses.

“Teach me how to play?” Caitlin asks shyly, tucking the stray locks fluttering in the breeze behind her ear.

Barry smiles up at her from where he is crouched over a tee he was planting into the felt. He doesn’t tease her for not knowing the game- not in the way he’s done before when they battle over a round of “Operation”. Instead, he stands and starts divulging an abundance of information on how traditionally, a minigolf course has nine holes (this course has eighteen, broken into two parts of nine each) where the difficulty to sink a putt increases steadily with each hole, how each player is allowed six strokes and the idea is to sink a putt with the least strokes.

“Ladies first,” Barry offers once they’ve established all the rules of the game.

Caitlin grins as she steps up to the tee, awkwardly standing next to the ball, not knowing exactly how she’s supposed hold the putter in the first place.

She starts a little when she feels Barry press behind her, his long arms positioned along hers and his hands settle over her own.

“Hold it like this,” he says, his voice a delicious low rumble in her ears, his breath tickling her cheek. Caitlin feels heat colour her cheeks at Barry’s proximity, but she doesn’t pull away- not in the way she’s used to. She turns slightly to look at Barry over her shoulders and her breath hitches in her throat when she finds his green eyes gazing at her with such fondness, such tenderness.

Barry guides her arms for a few practice swings before stepping away to give Caitlin the space she needs to make her move. Something unfamiliar unfurls low in her belly, something much like disappointment when she loses the warmth of Barry’s body on hers.

Caitlin pulls her attention back from Barry and wills herself to focus on the game. She takes a deep breath and prepares for the perfect swing, the perfectionist in her can’t help but want to excel at a game of minigolf the same way she excels in the field of genetics and biochemistry.

She pulls the putter up and swings and it comes down with a soft _thump_ where the ball connects with the putter. They watch it roll straight towards the hole. Caitlin bounces on the spot, her excitement seeping from her pores and she squeals loudly when the ball disappears into the hole.

Barry whoops loudly, pride etched on his face. “Nice,” he chimes.

“Beginner’s luck,” Caitlin muses rather self-deprecatingly, but her bright smile betrays how proud she actually feels.

Barry just scoffs in disagreement and resets the tee to take his turn.

“So what’s the score?” Caitlin asks, looking around for a score board or something that would tally the game.

“We’re not keeping score.”

Caitlin brows knit in confusion. “No scores? Then what’s the point of the game?” she asks, the scientist in her concerned over the logic of a game that bears no cause and effect.

Barry just smiles his charming smile once more, something she’s starting to realize that he only does with her. “The point, Dr. Snow, is to keep playing.”

Caitlin is startled by the simplicity of the words yet she hears the loaded and layered meanings embedded in them; life goes on- we soldier on.

Everything they’ve gone through- from Barry losing his mother at a young age to becoming The Flash, from Caitlin having a promising career in bioengineering and a loving fiancé to barely anything after the explosion- they soldier on.

 _The point is to keep playing_.

Fear has held her back long enough- for too long she was afraid to let anyone else in; the thought of losing someone else the way she lost Ronnie was too unbearable. She never wanted to go through it again. So she lets fear chain her to the past, even when Barry entered her life.

Barry Allen, the kindred spirit who _gets_ her- her pain, her dreams.

In that moment, she finally allows herself to admit that she’s happiest with Barry.

Soldier on; that is the point in life, she decides.

“Kiss me,” Caitlin blurts.

Barry turns to face her, his green eyes locking with her bright hazels. He doesn’t move.

For a moment, Caitlin panics and she fears everything is too fast, too soon. But truth be told, she and Barry have been dancing around each other for awhile now; this is a long time coming.

Caitlin steels her nerves, bracing for rejection. If anything, she’s soldiered on, taking the reins of her life, her happiness from the clutches of fear and asks for something that she wants.

And she wants Barry.

She waits for the rejection- but it doesn’t come.

Instead, Barry slowly inches towards her, his smile blinding. He lets his putter fall with a muffled thud on the felt surface as he reaches to cradle Caitlin’s face in his hands. He strokes the skin over her cheekbones, his skin feels calloused over hers but there’s tenderness in his touch that makes her melt into it.

“Kiss me,” she whispers again, her voice laced with sureness this time.

“Gladly,” Barry replies before he softly latches his lips on hers, slowly gliding against each other.

In between kisses and their in sync heartbeats, for the first time in a long time, Caitlin feels unbridled by fear, by worries of uncertainties the future may bring. She’s content with now, being in Barry’s arms, his lips soft against hers.

She is happy.

 

\---END

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> Comments welcomed.


End file.
